“I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are, but does not leave us where it found us.” - Anne Lamott, in Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
It is not uncommon to hear people mix-up the words “mercy” and “grace” or confuse the two concepts. In my line of work, I frequently encounter people who know they are in need of one or the other, if not both.
Such is the common human condition. We make mistakes; big ones. We screw-up, big-time. We often disappoint ourselves with random forays into narcissistic behaviour or less than admirable thinking. Afterward, we can become our own worst enemy when it comes to taking full ownership for our self-centeredness and/or inappropriate thought processes. Yet genuine healing requires, among other things, the necessity of understanding the difference between mercy and grace and a willingness to extend both to ourselves and to others.
Let’s say, I am pulled over by a police officer for speeding through a traffic zone with a posted speed limit of 50 km/h at a clocked speed of 72 km/h. Should the officer witnessing the offence choose to issue me merely a warning for my offence rather than a $200+ speeding ticket, they would be demonstrating mercy by not giving me what I deserve.
That’s what mercy is = not being given what you deserve. Probably many of us have had experiences like this wherein someone - for whatever reason - opted to extend mercy to us.
Now, suppose that police officer proceeded to write you up a $200 speeding ticket while you sat in your vehicle pondering how you were going to explain it when you arrived home. The officer would be acting in accordance with what society has chosen to deem justice. Again, this is not a foreign experience to most of us. However – and here’s the stretch – suppose that when the constable returns to your vehicle with that ominous yellow document, they said something like this. “I have issued you a speeding ticket in the amount of $200 for driving in excess of 20 km/h over the speed limit. Nevertheless, I am also choosing to pay the fine for you. You are free to go. Have a good day.”
Shocked, right? Shocked because you have just been on the receiving end of grace = being given what you do not deserve. I use this “as if” scenario not only to underline the difference between mercy (not being given what you rightly deserve) and grace (being given what you do not deserve), but to remind you that grace is a comparatively scarce commodity in our world. So scarce, in fact, that on those rare occasions when we do encounter it, we usually recognize that we are in unfamiliar territory.
Part of the reason grace is comparatively rare in our experience is because it’s one of those gifts that is difficult if not impossible to share with someone else unless you’ve first been gifted with it. And, be careful here, not everyone who claims to have experienced grace knows what they’re talking about. I’ve learned that it’s really one of those anomalies of life. It’s often found where one least expects it.
Tim Callaway is pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church in Airdrie. He can be reached at [email protected]
